Dead battery or something else???

[Mageslayer]

Ok. So, I recently got an SNES and a few games for cheap. As I was playing Zelda, the first thing I did was to erase the one save file that was there and replace it with my own. No problems yet. I saved as soon as my uncle exited the house. Still no problems. I reloaded, played for a bit, saved and exited. Upon reload, I reaized that I was back before the castle sequence. Thinking I mustn't have saved (because I had already confirmed that saving was a-ok), I played some more. I saved again to make sure I didn't die and have to restart (I was working on a no-death game). Once I reloaded, I was BACK IN MY HOUSE BEFORE THE CASTLE AGAIN! Infuriated, I tried copying my file to slot 2, as a friend told me once that files in slot 1 delete easier than in slot 2 or 3 (which I thought was rubbish but it was worth a try). My file wouldn't even copy. I then tried starting a new file. After I input the name, I was taken back to the main menu with the slot I started remaining empty. I tried ERASING my slot 1, which also didn't work. Now I don't know TOO much about these things, but my first assumption was a dead cartridge battery. However, this seemed odd, because it would have had to have happened within the short time I had owned this game (not even a week). Also, although I've never had this happen to me before, I would assume that if the mechanism that stores your save files breaks, any save files you already had would be erased as well. Is it beyond repair? Should I throw away the cart?

[totokan]

I played some more. I saved again to make sure I didn't die and have to restart (I was working on a no-death game).

In LTTP, it count's saves as deaths, doesn't it? Also, you need a gamebit screwdriver to open it, then replace the internal battery. Pretty easy.

[Mageslayer]

hm.... ok since I've got no plastic to order that stuff off the net at the moment, I have a question. Assuming I can get the cart open, got any diagrams on how to do that? Also, can I use a battery from a different cart? I've got some games that suck lol.

[totokan]

A) It's a battery, it looks like a watch one, how hard is that?
B) It depends, I think some games use different types. I'd take it to a place that sells watch/hearing aid batteries and try and match it up.